Breaking Sounds

BREAKING SOUNDS: Obnox 'Boogalou Reed' LP

On the second full-banger from Ohio's nastiest 'Nox comes forth a new mothership of filthy, interlaced styles, encompassing every sticky corner of the underground so well, you'd think there was interplanetary intervention on some level. Without compromising our reader's intelligence by using "outsider" terminology like garage rock, we can safely say that this LP is devoid of anything of that ilk, and to keep piling that empty term on top of everything Obnox (Bim Thomas) lays down is just plain absurd, and really makes you look foolish. Grow up and learn some new words, come on. This is fully-pedigreed punk grime of the freshest and most putrid flavor, don't short change Obnox with that, he doesn't have time as I'm sure he's already finishing up his next joint. Literally.

But getting back to this record, Boogalou Reed is an impressive LP full of ripe commentary from Bim's enchanted view of the world (to say his sense of humor is acute would be an understatement, if you've been keeping track of song titles), and filtered through one of the murkiest fuzz cannons I've laid audio witness to in recent memory. You know that foamy yellow spray-on insulation shit you see around leaky gutters and near air conditioners pipes? That's what these guitars sound like, not quite food processors like The Spits, but more like a monstrous garbage disposal distortion setting that our brightest scientists still haven't yet discovered, but it's alive and throbbing like a motherfuck of a beast on this new album.

The lyrics are hypnotic at times, dark and unsettling, and when fused with such an ugly amalgamation of grungy punk riffs caked with grime and resin-covered paper clips, it'll cause a permanent stain on your brain that wasn't included in any warning. And the last track, "Protopipe," wow, now that's really bringing back some memories. I mean who was fancy enough for one of those? You'd think the quality level would have dropped out with so many releases under his belt in such a short period of time, but of course that can't always be the case, as some powerhouses such as Obnox just get angrier, looser, and more fluid with each release, slipping into the shapes of each style effortlessly. Just don't keep calling it "garage," really, you're better than that, and we all picture you wearing MC Hammer pants every time you use it on something like this.

STREAM "Boogalou Reed" and "Cynthia Piper At the Gates of Dawn" right here, and order the new LP from 12XU right HERE, or grab a copy at your favorite local record store.